Eureka Drabbles and Ficlets
by AngelQueen
Summary: A series of drabbles and ficlets based on Season 3.5 episodes.
1. Thankful

**Eureka Season 3.5 Drabbles and Ficlets**  
By AngelQueen

**Note: SPOILERS** for newly-aired episodes of _Eureka._

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Eureka_ or any associated characters. I write this purely for my own enjoyment and the entertainment of others.

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3.09 _Welcome Back, Carter_

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Allison is thankful that Henry and Andy discovered that section of Eureka s town charter. General Mansfield isn't likely to be pleased when he gets Henry's memo on the subject, but given that they re citing the charter, he will have no choice in the matter.

Allison imagines that the D.O.D. won t be happy that the townspeople are going to be paying a lot more attention to the town's charter from now on, to see just what's within their power to do.

Personally, Allison is thankful because she can't handle losing anyone else. Kevin has withdrawn back into complex maze that is his mind, only coming out briefly to acknowledge her. Nathan is gone. She's _pregnant_, something that still hasn't quite sunk in, even though the evidence is obvious in her swelling stomach.

Carter's her rock, was so even before Nathan was lost. She always knew that whenever another crisis hit the fan, she could count on him to make things right again. She knows that, with this baby on the way -- Nathan Stark s last gift to the world -- Carter will be there for her to lean on.

She almost lost him, but he s here to stay, thank goodness. Allison needs him.

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**Please review!**


	2. Obedience

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Eureka_ or any associated characters.

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_3.10 Your Face or Mine_

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"S.A.R.A.H., door," Carter said. The door to the bunker swept open with its usual hermetic hiss.

"Welcome home, Sheriff Carter," the A.I. replied.

Carter tossed his jacket on the couch and walked into the kitchen. Zoe was sitting at the island, eating what smelled like spaghetti. "Hey," she greeted, grabbing the napkin beside her plate and wiping her mouth. "How'd you do?"

He grinned. "No one's calling me perfect , but I did all right. High marks, the Doc said."

"That's great," Zoe replied. She picked up her fork and twirled the pasta around it. "So, did Jo tell you about what went on?" she asked, taking a bite.

"Yeah," Carter said, grabbing an empty plate and filling it with spaghetti and a piece of garlic bread. "Lab assistant Julia wanted to be Jo so she could date Fargo."

"Talk about weird," Zoe commented. "Jo's been dating Zane for months and the girl wants Fargo? He's cute, in a puppy-ish kind of way I suppose, but between him and Zane, Zane would win any day of the week."

"I guess," was his only response. He sat down at the island and concentrated on his food. Zoe, though, had already finished.

"I'm going over to Pillar's tonight," she told him, taking her dishes to the sink. "She s got this new --"

Carter raised his eyebrow. "That s nice," he interrupted, "but you'll have to hear about it tomorrow at school. You re grounded."

"What? Why?"

He put his fork down. "You didn t really think Jo wouldn t mention Karaoke Night at Caf Diem, did you?"

Her face fell. "But Dad, Jo said it was great that I was there --"

"Yeah, except that was Julia, and she said it _after_ Jo said no. So, no hanging out at Pillar's, and no cruising around in your car with Lucas. You're out of the house only for school and work, that s it."

"How long?"

"A week, and if you whine, it'll be longer."

Zoe glared at him, but Carter didn't bat an eye. She knew she'd screwed up and was paying for it. He watched her stomp out of the kitchen, muttering about not getting a break even when the deputy s got a stalker twin walking around town.

Carter shrugged to himself as he listened to her jog up the steps. That confrontation had been positively tame in comparison to what they d gone through in the past.


	3. Home

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Eureka_ or any associated characters.

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3.11 _Insane in the P-Brane_

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"Right here," Allison said, pointing at the house to their right. It was the only one not lit up against the darkness.

"Check," Tess replied, pulling her car up to the side of the street. Putting it into park, she looked past Allison and out the window. "So, this is it?" she asked.

"This is it," Allison confirmed. "The house has been shut up since Carl Carlson…" she trailed off.

Tess didn't pry any further. She'd read every file accumulated by that concerned Section Five. That included the pages and pages of notes gathered by Nathan Stark on the subject.

They got out of the car, crossing the front yard – which had been kept up immaculately – to the front door. Allison pulled out one of her many keycards from her coat pocket and inserted it into the scanner next to the door. It flashed green and the door popped open, allowing them to step inside.

Tess glanced around at the place. The house came with furniture, and there were several suitcases and boxes piled up in the living room. "Nice place," she commented. "You guys have nice housing policies."

Allison picked up one of the lighter boxes. "You should see the place Carter lives in with his daughter and sister," she told her. "When Carter moved here, we didn't have any of the normal housing available, so we put him in an old nuclear bunker. Fargo had developed his first SMART house, and he's still living with it."

Tess smirked. "No wonder he acts so henpecked," she said, grabbing two of her suitcases to take up to the second floor. "He's got an AI that rules his life at home, along with a teenaged daughter and a pregnant sister."

Allison gave her a stern look. "Tess, don't torment him. He puts up with enough around here."

She grinned. "Ally, I can't believe you'd think that!"

"You know very well why I did, Tess. Remember Carson?"

Tess shut her mouth. After a moment, she said quietly, "Not fair, Allison."

"But still a good point. Carter's endured a lot from Eureka and its… idiosyncrasies. He doesn't need one of GD's section heads going out of her way to make his life more difficult."

Tess pouted and started up the stairs. When they made it into the master bedroom, she asked, "So, does that mean I can't invite him to the baby shower?"


	4. Rumor Mill

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Eureka_ or any associated characters.

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3.12 _It's Not Easy Being Green_

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"…nearly killed Lexi Carter and her boyfriend…"

"…five years…"

"…Big Ed would've loved it…"

The conversations were flying through Café Diem even the day after the big tournament. Bismarck and his cronies had left earlier that morning, slipping away as the sun rose over the mountains, leaving Eurekans to enjoy their long-awaited bowling victory.

Tess walked into Café Diem, the various conversations filling the large room. She approached the counter, where there was already a small group of people gathered around talking to Vincent.

"…kept _laughing_ at him…"

Tess cocked her head curiously, but before she could open her mouth to join the conversation, one of the people – a lab-tech from Global, now that she thought about it – spotted her and cleared her throat pointedly. The group stopped talking.

Huh, she thought. What's that all about?

Vincent was the first to recover. "Doctor Fontana," he greeted, sounding a little less cheerful than he normally did. "What can I get you this morning?"

Tess eyed him curiously, as well as the others, who seemed to be moving off to different groups without saying a word. "Just my usual, Vincent," she said after a moment.

The café proprietor nodded. "Coming right up," he told her, moving toward his various, fancy coffeemakers. Tess took the moment to look around the café. The breakfast crowd – or those who were getting off the nightshift – all appeared engrossed in their food, though she noted that it had become rather quiet since she'd come inside.

"Here you go," Vincent said, reappearing behind her. "Just how you like it, black to the point of being tar." He handed her the coffee cup, wrinkling his nose in the process.

"Thanks, Vincent," she said. Taking a sip of her coffee, she glanced around again before asking, "What's with everyone? Someone's cat die?"

Vincent shook his head, but didn't seem inclined to say anything else. "Come on, Vince," Tess prodded. "Something's bothering everyone. What is it?"

"Well," he said hesitantly, looking around. After a second, he motioned her over to the corner by the restrooms. Raising an eyebrow, Tess followed. "What's up?"

The café owner crossed his arms and stared at her. "I think it's you, actually."

"Me?"

He nodded. "People heard about you making fun of Sheriff Carter at Global yesterday," he told her.

Tess blinked. She'd laughed when they'd been trying to figure out what it was that was eating the Globidium. His thought processes were so utterly… illogical and uninformed, and yet he'd managed to figure everything out and save the day. It was quite a new experience for her. She'd been there, Carter and Allison too, and there'd been a technician… Patty, Tess thought.

"That?" she sputtered. "It –"

Vincent shook his head, cutting her off. "You have to understand, Tess, we're proud of our Sheriff. He's saved our lives so many times that we'd do anything for him. It's the same with Zoë." He smiled faintly. "He's our sheriff, and she's our girl, I once told Zoë's mom. Anyway, we all care about Carter. As you can imagine, General Mansfield's still not very popular around here for trying to fire him."

Tess took a deep breath. She didn't know about a lot of what Vincent was talking about, but she got the message. The Carters had become like the town's mascot. Allison had warned her repeatedly to watch her mouth when it came to Carter, but Tess had honestly thought it was because Allison was attracted to him. Maybe it really was more than that.

"Look, Vincent," she said slowly, "I'm sorry I gave people that impression, that I don't respect Carter. Trust me, I do. He's already saved my life more than once and I've only been here something like a week."

The café owner stared at her intently, and then nodded. "Apology accepted," he replied. "Just be nice, that's all we ask. The sheriff's done a lot for us, and he puts up with quite a bit too. We nearly lost him not too long ago and we got a good taste of what life could be like without him. We're not keen on seeing anyone drive him out."

She nodded. "I understand."

"Good."


	5. Awe

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Eureka_ or any associated characters.

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3.13 _If You Build It_

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Tess stared, awed by the… _spacecraft_ hovering a few yards away. There were… no words to describe something like this.

_Allison and Mansfield are crazy, wanting to blow something this monumental out of the sky_, she thought.

Tess had loved science ever since she was a kid. She wasn't the product of a scientific home or anything – Dad had been a lawyer, Mom a painter – but science had been loads of fun for her. Not to mention, science fiction had also been a staple of her teenaged television diet.

_Captain Kirk, eat your heart out_, she thought with a grin.


	6. Life Happens

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Eureka_ or any associated characters.

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3.14 _Ship Happens_

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She isn't Kim. Henry believed that when he said so to Jack, and he still does. She has many of Kim's mannerisms, true. Her eyes sparkle just a little when she sees him, she has Kim's funny little half-smile. Still, when he looks at her, something inside him readily states that she is _not_ Kim.

Henry thinks that is what actually helped him to work with her.

She brought it all back. The pain, the rage, and just when he thought he'd put it all behind him. He remembers feeling GD rock as Section Five explodes, destroying her utterly while Jack blocks his path. He remembers struggling to control his anger towards Jack, and ultimately taking his memories of that alternate timeline that Jack had so readily described to him.

Henry's never really regretted doing that. Keeping those memories would have ultimately crippled Jack as he watched the new timeline unfold. Nathan staying and growing closer to Allison again, leaving Jack as the odd man out… Henry knows it was hard enough for Jack as it was, but having those memories as well? No, Jack wouldn't have been able to stand it, and he probably would have packed up and run rather than watch the woman who was once – and yet never was – his wife fall in love again with her ex-husband. Then Eureka would have lost its regular savior as well as Zoë, one of its bright and rising stars.

It was for the best.

All of that came back the moment he saw Kim's face, listened to the computer speak in her voice, behave much as Kim used to. Still, after Jack pleaded for him to work with her, Henry watched her, and saw that he was right. She was very much like Kim, but she isn't her.

That's why Henry thinks he can do this, work with her on a daily basis. He just has to be careful. He's very aware that he could slide right back into loving her, but if he does, he has to make sure that it's _her_ he loves, and not the fact that she's so much like Kim. It has to be because of who she is as a person in her own right.

Maybe he should ask her if she'd like to choose a new name for herself, to create her own sense of identity.

It's something to think about.


	7. Spreading the News

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Eureka or any associated characters. I make no claim on them.

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3.15 _Shower the People_

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Zoë's working late at Café Diem when Pilar comes in, _that_ grin on her face. The one that just screams 'juicy gossip time!' Zoë eyes her. "What?"

Pilar laughs and sits down. "You will not believe what my mom told me what she saw at G.D. not an hour ago. Oh, and can I have a milkshake?" she adds.

Zoë rolls her eyes, but nods. "What flavor?" she asks.

"Mm, chocolate, caramel, and peanutbutter?"

Zoë snorts at the combination. When she brings it out to Pilar, the other girl's still grinning. Zoë hands the glass to her and says, "Okay, spill. What breakthroughs have the geniuses come up with that are going to bring about the end of the world until my dad saves the day?"

Pilar giggles, sipping on her milkshake. "That's a mouth full."

_"Pilar!"_

She raises her hands in mock-surrender, saying, "Okay, okay! Keep your shirt on, girl." She reached up and tucks her hair behind her ear. "Seriously, though, it isn't anything like that. My mom was leaving for the day, and you know how you have to go through the main foyer to get to the elevators?"

Zoë nods, grabbing one of the super-cloths that Vincent developed to clean the counter.

"Well," Pilar continues, "Mom saw your dad locking lips with Doctor Fontana right there in the foyer, right in front of Doctor Blake's office."

Zoë freezes, her eyes locking on her friend. _"W-What?"_ she chokes.

Pilar nods vigorously. "Oh yeah, it's true, hon." She smirks. "If I were you, I'd be careful when I get home. Who knows what you might walk in on."

Zoë gapes at Pilar. "Eww!"

Still, when Zoë gets home, she makes sure to ask S.A.R.A.H. if her dad and Tess Fontana are making out – or worse – on the couch.


End file.
